Interpretation of PSMA-PET Among Urologists: A Prospective Multicentric Evaluation
Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Test Administration
2.2. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- MacLennan, S.; Azevedo, N.; Duncan, E.; Dunsmore, J.; Fullwood, L.; Lumen, N.; Plass, K.; Ribal, M.J.; Roobol, M.J.; Nieboer, D.; et al. Mapping European Association of Urology Guideline Practice Across Europe: An Audit of Androgen Deprivation Therapy Use Before Prostate Cancer Surgery in 6598 Cases in 187 Hospitals Across 31 European Countries. Eur. Urol. 2023, 83, 393–401. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Cindolo, L.; Bertolo, R.; Minervini, A.; Sessa, F.; Muto, G.; Bove, P.; Vittori, M.; Bozzini, G.; Castellan, P.; Mugavero, F.; et al. External validation of Cormio nomogram for predicting all prostate cancers and clinically significant prostate cancers. World J. Urol. 2020, 38, 2555–2561. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Mantica, G.; Pacchetti, A.; Aimar, R.; Cerasuolo, M.; Dotta, F.; Olivero, A.; Pini, G.; Passaretti, G.; Maffezzini, M.; Terrone, C. Developing a five-step training model for transperineal prostate biopsies in a naïve residents’ group: A prospective observational randomised study of two different techniques. World J. Urol. 2019, 37, 1845–1850. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- De Nunzio, C.; Lombardo, R.; Baldassarri, V.; Cindolo, L.; Bertolo, R.; Minervini, A.; Sessa, F.; Muto, G.; Bove, P.; Vittori, M.; et al. Rotterdam mobile phone app including MRI data for the prediction of prostate cancer: A multicenter external validation. Eur. J. Surg. Oncol. 2021, 47, 2640–2645. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Mari, A.; Cadenar, A.; Giudici, S.; Cianchi, G.; Albisinni, S.; Autorino, R.; Di Maida, F.; Gandaglia, G.; Mir, M.C.; Valerio, M.; et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of PSMA PET/CT in the initial staging of prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2024, 28, 56–69. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Bauckneht, M.; Rebuzzi, S.E.; Ponzano, M.; Borea, R.; Signori, A.; Frantellizzi, V.; Rizzini, E.L.; Mascia, M.; Lavelli, V.; Miceli, A.; et al. Prognostic Value of the BIO-Ra Score in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with Radium-223 after the European Medicines Agency Restricted Use: Secondary Investigations of the Multicentric BIO-Ra Study. Cancers 2022, 14, 1744. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [PubMed Central]
- European Association of Urology. EAU Guidelines on Prostate Cancer. 2024. Available online: https://uroweb.org (accessed on 23 February 2025).
- American Urological Association. AUA/ASTRO/SUO Guideline: Prostate Cancer: Clinically Localized. 2022. Available online: https://www.auanet.org (accessed on 23 February 2025).
- Fendler, W.P.; Eiber, M.; Beheshti, M.; Bomanji, J.; Ceci, F.; Cho, S.; Giesel, F.; Haberkorn, U.; Hope, T.A.; Kopka, K.; et al. 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT: Joint EANM and SNMMI procedure guideline for prostate cancer imaging: Version 1.0. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 2017, 44, 1014–1024. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Davenport, M.S.; Weinstein, S. What Is It We Do Here? AJR Am. J. Roentgenol. 2022, 218, 184–185. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Rodrigues, C.; Visram, K.; Sedghi, A.; Mousavi, P.; Siemens, D.R. Attitudes and experience of urology trainees in interpreting prostate magnetic resonance imaging. Can. Urol. Assoc. J. 2021, 15, E293–E298. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [PubMed Central]
- Pfob, C.H.; Ziegler, S.; Graner, F.P.; Köhner, M.; Schachoff, S.; Blechert, B.; Wester, H.-J.; Scheidhauer, K.; Schwaiger, M.; Maurer, T.; et al. Biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of (68)Ga-PSMA HBED CC-a PSMA specific probe for PET imaging of prostate cancer. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 2016, 43, 1962–1970. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Gordon, I.O.; Tretiakova, M.S.; Noffsinger, A.E.; Hart, J.; Reuter, V.E.; Al-Ahmadie, H.A. Prostate-specific membrane antigen expression in regeneration and repair. Mod. Pathol. 2008, 21, 1421–1427. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Rischpler, C.; Beck, T.I.; Okamoto, S.; Schlitter, A.M.; Knorr, K.; Schwaiger, M.; Gschwend, J.; Maurer, T.; Meyer, P.T.; Eiber, M. (68)Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC uptake in cervical, celiac, and sacral ganglia as an important pitfall in prostate cancer PET imaging. J. Nucl. Med. 2018, 59, 1406–1411. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Kanthan, G.L.; Hsiao, E.; Vu, D.; Schembri, G.P. Uptake in sympathetic ganglia on (68) Ga-PSMA-HBED PET/CT: A potential pitfall in scan interpretation. J. Med. Imaging Radiat. Oncol. 2017, 61, 732–738. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Krohn, T.; Verburg, F.A.; Pufe, T.; Neuhuber, W.; Vogg, A.; Heinzel, A.; Mottaghy, F.M.; Behrendt, F.F. [(68)Ga]PSMA-HBED uptake mimicking lymph node metastasis in coeliac ganglia: An important pitfall in clinical practice. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 2015, 42, 210–214. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Rizzo, A.; Morbelli, S.; Albano, D.; Fornarini, G.; Cioffi, M.; Laudicella, R.; Dondi, F.; Grimaldi, S.; Bertagna, F.; Racca, M.; et al. The Homunculus of unspecific bone uptakes associated with PSMA-targeted tracers: A systematic review-based definition. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 2024, 51, 3753–3764. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [PubMed Central]
- Wihl, J.; Falini, V.; Borg, S.; Stahl, O.; Jiborn, T.; Ohlsson, B.; Nilbert, M. Implementation of the measure of case discussion complexity to guide selection of prostate cancer patients for multidisciplinary team meetings. Cancer Med. 2023, 12, 15149–15158. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [PubMed Central]
- Shore, N.D.; Morgans, A.K.; El-Haddad, G.; Srinivas, S.; Abramowitz, M. Addressing Challenges and Controversies in the Management of Prostate Cancer with Multidisciplinary Teams. Target Oncol. 2022, 17, 709–725. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [PubMed Central]
- Costa, D.N.; Nguyen, N.; Garant, A.; Meng, X.; Courtney, K.D.; Shah, R.B.; Pedrosa, I. The role of the radiologist in the prostate cancer multidisciplinary conference. Abdom. Radiol. 2024, 49, 4162–4172. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Spilseth, B.; Ghai, S.; Patel, N.U.; Taneja, S.S.; Margolis, D.J.; Rosenkrantz, A.B. A Comparison of Radiologists’ and Urologists’ Opinions Regarding Prostate MRI Reporting: Results From a Survey of Specialty Societies. AJR Am. J. Roentgenol. 2018, 210, 101–107. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Lindgren Belal, S.; Frantz, S.; Minarik, D.; Enqvist, O.; Wikström, E.; Edenbrandt, L.; Trägårdh, E. Applications of Artificial Intelligence in PSMA PET/CT for Prostate Cancer Imaging. Semin. Nucl. Med. 2024, 54, 141–149. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Characteristic | Overall, N = 63 1 |
---|---|
Age | 36 (30, 42) |
Hierarchy | |
Consultant | 37 (59%) |
Resident | 26 (41%) |
Institution | |
Academic | 39 (62%) |
Non-academic | 24 (38%) |
N° of PCa diagnoses per year | |
<300 | 18 (29%) |
≥300 | 45 (71%) |
N° of RARPs per year | |
<150 | 35 (56%) |
≥150 | 28 (44%) |
Personal experience in prostate biopsy | 43 (68%) |
Personal experience in fusion prostate biopsy | 31 (49%) |
Involvement in diagnosis and management of PCa | 52 (83%) |
PCa multidisciplinary team (MDT) presence | 40 (63%) |
Correct T stage | 11.0 (10.0, 15.0) |
Correct N stage | 14.00 (13.0, 16.00) |
Correct M stage | 12.00 (11.00, 14.00) |
Correct cases | 5.0 (4.0, 7.0) |
Almost * correct cases | 14.00 (13.0, 16.00) |
T stage proficiency ** | 19 (30%) |
N stage proficiency ** | 30 (48%) |
M stage proficiency ** | 10 (16%) |
Correct case proficiency ** | 1 (1.6%) |
Almost * correct case proficiency ** | 28 (44%) |
(A) Characteristic | Academic Institution, N = 39 (62%) 1 | Non-Academic Institution, N = 24 (38%) 1 | p-Value 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Correct T stage | 12 (10, 15) | 11 (9, 16) | 0.6 |
Correct N stage | 14 (13, 16) | 15 (13, 16) | 0.3 |
Correct M stage | 12 (12, 14) | 12 (10, 14) | 0.4 |
Correct cases | 5 (4, 7) | 5 (2, 10) | 0.3 |
Almost correct cases | 14 (13, 16) | 14 (11, 18) | 0.8 |
T stage proficiency | 11 (28%) | 8 (33%) | 0.7 |
N stage proficiency | 16 (41%) | 14 (58%) | 0.2 |
M stage proficiency | 5 (13%) | 5 (21%) | 0.5 |
Correct case proficiency | 0 (0%) | 1 (4.2%) | 0.4 |
Almost correct case proficiency | 17 (44%) | 11 (46%) | 0.9 |
(B) Characteristic | <300 PCA Diagnoses, N = 18 (29%) 1 | ≥300 PCA Diagnoses, N = 45 (71%) 1 | p-Value 2 |
Correct T stage | 11 (9, 13) | 11 (10, 16) | 0.032 |
Correct N stage | 13 (12, 16) | 15 (13, 16) | 0.11 |
Correct M stage | 12 (11, 12) | 13 (12, 14) | 0.002 |
Correct cases | 4 (2, 6) | 6 (4, 9) | 0.008 |
Almost correct cases | 13 (11, 15) | 14 (13, 17) | 0.11 |
T stage proficiency | 2 (11%) | 17 (38%) | 0.037 |
N stage proficiency | 6 (33%) | 24 (53%) | 0.2 |
M stage proficiency | 0 (0%) | 10 (22%) | 0.050 |
Correct case proficiency | 0 (0%) | 1 (2.2%) | >0.9 |
Almost correct case proficiency | 6 (33%) | 22 (49%) | 0.3 |
(C) Characteristic | N° of RARPs per Year <150, N = 35 (56%) 1 | N° of RARPs per Year ≥150, N = 28 (44%) 1 | p-Value 2 |
Correct T stage | 12 (9, 15) | 11 (10, 16) | 0.6 |
Correct N stage | 13 (13, 16) | 15 (13, 16) | 0.13 |
Correct M stage | 12 (11, 13) | 13 (12, 14) | 0.030 |
Correct cases | 5 (3, 6) | 6 (4, 10) | 0.042 |
Almost correct cases | 14 (13, 16) | 14 (12, 18) | 0.6 |
T stage proficiency | 10 (29%) | 9 (32%) | 0.8 |
N stage proficiency | 13 (37%) | 17 (61%) | 0.063 |
M stage proficiency | 4 (11%) | 6 (21%) | 0.3 |
Correct case proficiency | 0 (0%) | 1 (3.6%) | 0.4 |
Almost correct case proficiency | 16 (46%) | 12 (43%) | 0.8 |
(D) Characteristic | No MDT, N = 23 (37%) 1 | MDT, N = 40 (63%) 1 | p-Value 2 |
Correct T stage | 12 (10, 15) | 11 (10, 16) | >0.9 |
Correct N stage | 14 (12, 16) | 14 (13, 16) | 0.7 |
Correct M stage | 12 (11, 13) | 13 (12, 14) | 0.026 |
Correct cases | 5 (3, 6) | 5 (4, 7) | 0.3 |
Almost correct cases | 14 (12, 16) | 14 (13, 16) | 0.6 |
T stage proficiency | 6 (26%) | 13 (32%) | 0.6 |
N stage proficiency | 11 (48%) | 19 (48%) | >0.9 |
M stage proficiency | 2 (8.7%) | 8 (20%) | 0.3 |
Correct case proficiency | 0 (0%) | 1 (2.5%) | >0.9 |
Almost correct case proficiency | 10 (43%) | 18 (45%) | >0.9 |
(E) Characteristic | Consultant, N = 37 (59%) 1 | Resident, N = 26 (41%) 1 | p-Value 2 |
Correct T stage | 11 (10, 15) | 11 (10, 15) | 0.7 |
Correct N stage | 15 (13, 16) | 14 (12, 15) | 0.090 |
Correct M stage | 12 (11, 13) | 13 (12, 14) | 0.14 |
Correct cases | 5 (3, 7) | 5 (4, 7) | 0.8 |
Almost correct cases | 14 (13, 17) | 14 (12, 16) | 0.5 |
T stage proficiency | 11 (30%) | 8 (31%) | >0.9 |
N stage proficiency | 21 (57%) | 9 (35%) | 0.083 |
M stage proficiency | 6 (16%) | 4 (15%) | >0.9 |
Correct case proficiency | 1 (2.7%) | 0 (0%) | >0.9 |
Almost correct case proficiency | 17 (46%) | 11 (42%) | 0.8 |
(A) Local Disease | OR 1 | 95% CI 1 | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Hierarchy | |||
Consultant | — | — | |
Resident | 0.91 | 0.27, 3.06 | 0.877 |
N° of RARPs per year per institution | |||
<150 | — | — | |
≥150 | 1.10 | 0.35, 3.40 | 0.873 |
PCa MDT | |||
No | — | — | |
Yes | 1.39 | 0.38, 5.32 | 0.624 |
(B) Regional Lymph Node Metastases | OR 1 | 95% CI 1 | p-Value |
Hierarchy | |||
Consultant | — | — | |
Resident | 0.31 | 0.09, 1.02 | 0.062 |
N° of RARPs per year per institution | |||
<150 | — | — | |
≥150 | 2.98 | 0.99, 9.61 | 0.056 |
PCa MDT | |||
No | — | — | |
Yes | 1.212 | 0.338, 4.450 | 0.767 |
(C) Distant Metastases | OR 1 | 95% CI 1 | p-Value |
Hierarchy | |||
Consultant | — | — | |
Resident | 0.61 | 0.13, 2.73 | 0.518 |
N° of RARPs per year per institution | |||
<150 | — | — | |
≥150 | 1.76 | 0.43, 7.89 | 0.440 |
PCa MDT | |||
No | — | — | |
Yes | 2.80 | 0.50, 22.10 | 0.266 |
(D) Almost correct case staging | OR 1 | 95% CI 1 | p-Value |
Hierarchy | |||
Consultant | — | — | |
Resident | 0.80 | 0.26, 2.47 | 0.702 |
N° of RARPs per year per institution | |||
<150 | — | — | |
≥150 | 0.86 | 0.30, 2.45 | 0.778 |
PCa MDT | |||
No | — | — | |
Yes | 1.22 | 0.37, 4.121 | 0.73 |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Mantica, G.; Chierigo, F.; Ambrosini, F.; D’Amico, F.; Celesti, G.; Ferrari, A.; Gallo, F.; Schenone, M.; Benelli, A.; Introini, C.; et al. Interpretation of PSMA-PET Among Urologists: A Prospective Multicentric Evaluation. Cancers 2025, 17, 2122. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17132122
Mantica G, Chierigo F, Ambrosini F, D’Amico F, Celesti G, Ferrari A, Gallo F, Schenone M, Benelli A, Introini C, et al. Interpretation of PSMA-PET Among Urologists: A Prospective Multicentric Evaluation. Cancers. 2025; 17(13):2122. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17132122
Chicago/Turabian StyleMantica, Guglielmo, Francesco Chierigo, Francesca Ambrosini, Francesca D’Amico, Greta Celesti, Arianna Ferrari, Fabrizio Gallo, Maurizio Schenone, Andrea Benelli, Carlo Introini, and et al. 2025. "Interpretation of PSMA-PET Among Urologists: A Prospective Multicentric Evaluation" Cancers 17, no. 13: 2122. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17132122
APA StyleMantica, G., Chierigo, F., Ambrosini, F., D’Amico, F., Celesti, G., Ferrari, A., Gallo, F., Schenone, M., Benelli, A., Introini, C., Leonardi, R., Calarco, A., Esperto, F., Pacchetti, A., Papalia, R., Bozzini, G., Serao, A., Pau, V., Sambuceti, G., ... Bauckneht, M. (2025). Interpretation of PSMA-PET Among Urologists: A Prospective Multicentric Evaluation. Cancers, 17(13), 2122. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17132122